Chapter 26, Section 026: Rumors spread that two types of people survived back then...
The cultivator quickened his chanting, making the golden light of the vajra grow stronger and stronger.
The golden light was so intense that it was impossible to open one's eyes.
The little beggar's ghost was almost torn to pieces and disappeared in the bright light.
He kept his eyes tightly shut, biting his lip until it bled, as if he was trying his best to restrain himself from screaming.
Extreme pain can often unleash hidden potential within. Just as the golden light was about to completely dissolve the ghost, he suddenly opened his eyes!
Suddenly, a powerful force erupted from the golden light, overturning the cultivator and the wealthy merchant.
The nearly disintegrated spirit solidified again, holding a vajra, its eyes bloodshot, and walked forward step by step.
The wealthy businessman scrambled to hide behind the Taoist priest.
The cultivator, suffering from internal injuries, swiftly summoned a spirit-binding net to bind the ghost.
"This ghost's obsession is too deep to be redeemed; it can only be sealed away!"
The wealthy merchant, being quite knowledgeable, said, "I've heard that only celestial beings can seal away evil spirits. Could it be that you, Taoist priest, can summon the true form of a celestial being?"
The cultivator said, "Don't worry, I was fortunate enough to receive guidance on sealing techniques from a celestial being. Is there a suitable place for sealing around here?"
The wealthy businessman's mind raced. "There is a place, a century-old dry well, said to be located at the head of the fire dragon vein, where the yang energy is extremely strong. Any ghost or monster that enters would probably be scorched to the point of its soul being scattered."
The monk then forcibly dragged the beggar to the edge of the stage, where an ancient well appeared.
The beggar was bound by the spirit-binding net and was led to the well by the Taoist priests like livestock.
The cultivator said coldly, "I'll give you one last chance. Are you willing to let me guide you to the afterlife?"
The beggar closed his eyes, oblivious to everything, and simply curled up, clinging his ghostly spirit tightly to the vajra.
"Fine, since you're so stubborn, then you'd better pay the price!" The cultivator was furious. He chanted an incantation and sealed the bottom of the well with forty-nine Heavenly God Seals. Then he unfurled the Spirit Binding Net and threw the Vajra Pestle into the ancient well.
The ancient well, now filled with divine seals, was like a mountain of knives and a sea of fire, a cauldron of scorpions and a pot of boiling oil to the ghosts. Even if their souls were not destroyed, they would have to endure extreme pain and torment. In addition, the extremely yang energy belonging to the fire dragon vein made them unable to live or die.
The cultivator finally felt a pang of compassion and murmured, "Beggar, this may be your last chance. Let go!"
The wealthy merchant also looked at the vajra about to fall into the well, his eyes no longer showing the cunning and mercenary look, but rather a look of bewilderment.
In the last moment before the vajra fell to the bottom of the well, the beggar ghost attached to it could have been freed if it had left. But it didn't. Even after the entire ghost had entered the sealing barrier of the ancient well, it still didn't release the vajra.
The cultivator chanted the incantation again, completely sealing the well opening.
The beggar ghost's expression was calm, and even in its last glance outwards, it revealed a satisfied smile of fulfillment.
The cultivator seemed shaken by the ghost's obsession, and sighed: "You think that by clinging to this obsession, you can endure this seal and obtain your wish, leaving behind this vajra? Little do you know, a lowly desire-driven ghost like you has no right to guard what belongs to you..."
Applause broke out, but it was only sporadic, and there was only one person's applause.
Yun Tianjiao then snapped out of his daze, snapping out of his role as a cultivator, and saw that the person clapping was the "wealthy businessman" standing behind him.
"Well done, what a great show!" the wealthy businessman exclaimed, clapping his hands. "It's been a long time since I've enjoyed such a good show."
At this moment, Zhiwei also came out, having shed her beggar's disguise and reverted to being a celestial being dressed in a black Taoist robe.
Yun Tianjiao looked at him, their eyes met, his peach blossom eyes were smiling gently, and he no longer had the demeanor he had when he played the beggar.
But the breathtaking feeling I had just experienced from those dark eyes still lingered in my heart.
Yun Tianjiao realized that he might be too immersed in the role, so he adjusted his emotions and looked at the wealthy businessman beside him.
"Since you're satisfied, are you still unwilling to show your true face, Young Master Liang?"
The wealthy businessman paused slightly while clapping, then shed his businessman persona. However, instead of reverting to the famous actress Wan Cai'er from a hundred years ago, he transformed into a handsome young man.
"How do you know I'm not Cai'er?" Liang Yue was very surprised. "I think I've been careful enough. Even when you gave me the script, I specifically received it from Cai'er's grave."
Yun Tianjiao said, "The two tombs are very different. Young Master Liang's tombstone is covered in dust, and the fallen bamboo leaves have not been swept away. On the other hand, Madam Wan's tomb is clean and tidy. It is obvious that someone takes care of it every day. That's why I suspect that the ghost that stays here and refuses to leave, and performs on stage every night, is not Madam Wan's ghost, but Young Master Liang's."
Liang Yue burst into laughter, “I never expected this, I never expected that what would expose me was my feelings for Cai’er. That’s right, the actress who has been performing here every night for the past hundred years is not Cai’er, but me.”
"Young Master Liang is a devoted lover, but I don't know what happened a hundred years ago. Why did you die on the battlefield, yet your soul lingers here? And why did you massacre the innocent people of Huaicheng?"
"Innocent? None of the people I've killed are innocent. The innocent are all alive and well, otherwise, how could Huaicheng be so prosperous today?"
Yun Tianjiao and Zhiwei looked at each other.
Zhiwei whispered a reminder: "The old ferryman mentioned that two types of people survived back then."
Yun Tianjiao suddenly realized: "Children who can't speak and deaf-mute people!"
These two types of people have one thing in common: they don't know how to speak.
So, was the disaster a hundred years ago caused by words?
"You two have come here to eliminate me, haven't you?" Liang Yue suddenly spoke, making Yun Tianjiao suddenly wary.
"Don't rush. I see that you have a kind face, so you must be a kindred spirit. Why don't you sit down with this celestial being and listen to my story? It's been far too long since I've spoken like a human being."
Liang Yue gestured for the two to sit at the tables and chairs below the stage, so the three of them went down from the stage and found tables and chairs to sit down.
By this time, the audience created by illusion in the theater had long since disappeared, and the brightly lit hall was quiet, with only the three of them remaining.
Liang Yue poured tea for the two of them before slowly reminiscing: "Back then, I was summoned to war and faced death nine times out of ten. After the army finally returned in triumph, I came back alive with my military merits. The first thing I did was to look for Cai'er and ask her to marry me, but I never expected that Cai'er would be dead."
"Dead? Why did they die?"
"To die for love." When Liang Yue uttered these two words, his eyes burned with anger that he could not suppress. He could only close his eyes and drink a cup by himself.
Yun Tianjiao roughly guessed the direction of the story: "Wan Niangzi thought you died on the battlefield, so she committed suicide for you?"
But if that's all there is to it, one can only lament the cruel twist of fate. How could Liang Yue have harbored such deep resentment, slaughtering all the people in the city and turning into a vengeful ghost that he would not leave?
Liang Yue continued, "Although that expedition was fraught with danger, the army kept sending back reports of victories. How could a rumor have inexplicably arise that I had died in battle? So after burying Cai'er, I investigated extensively and finally found out the source of the rumor."
Yun Tianjiao: "Was your death not a false report from the court?"
Liang Yue shook his head. "She was Cai'er's adoptive mother. She treated Cai'er very badly, always beating and scolding her since she was little. Later, she sold Cai'er to a theatrical troupe. Our family has been officials for generations and is considered a prominent family in the prefecture. When that adoptive mother heard that Cai'er could marry into our family, she was always jealous, but she didn't dare to do anything because of our family's power. After I went to war, she couldn't stand the respectful attitude others showed to Cai'er, so she made up a story that I had died in battle."
"At first, she was just being sarcastic and talking casually, but people love to hear about other people's misfortunes. So the rumor spread like wildfire, and gradually the whole city started to hear that I had died in battle. They even made it sound convincing. So gradually, some people started saying that Cai'er's birth chart was despicable and that I was cursed to death by her."
Yun Tianjiao felt his blood boil. "How vicious! They always like to make up stories about women bringing bad luck to their husbands!"
“Cai’er refused to believe the rumors and went to the prefectural capital to ask my family for confirmation. But at that time, my father was transferred to another post and the whole family was not at home. So there were rumors that my father and mother were so saddened by my death that they resigned from their posts and went back to their hometown to handle the funeral arrangements.”
Seeing that my Cai'er had no one to rely on, the local scoundrels who had once coveted her beauty began to harass her. Rumors spread again, saying that she had lost her chastity and, as the betrothed young mistress of the Liang family, had disgraced the Liang family.
When Liang Yue got to this point, his eyes were already red and his voice was choked with emotion.
"The night Cai'er died, it was pouring rain. She was soaked to the bone in Huaicheng, asking everyone she met, 'Did I really die in battle?' But in the entire city of Huaicheng, from eighty-year-old women to teenagers, not a single person was willing to hold back on speaking about something that had not been verified!"
They spoke with absolute certainty and in unison, definitively declaring me, a living person, as dead! Some even fabricated a story, to bolster their own authority, claiming that my seventh aunt's uncle's youngest son, who served in the same unit, witnessed me being pierced by a thousand arrows—utterly absurd! Finally, Cai'er, heartbroken and disillusioned, believed the news of my death. To preserve the honor of my family, she chose to die for love, throwing herself into the lake in defiance…
A crisp sound of porcelain shattering.
Liang Yue angrily smashed the teacup in his hand on the ground, tears streaming down his face.
"If only one person had stood up and questioned the news of my death, things wouldn't have come to this... None of them are innocent; they are all the murderers who killed Cai'er!"
Yun Tianjiao was so engrossed in listening that he could hardly breathe and was speechless for a moment.
Zhiwei remained calm and asked, "Then how did you die? Did you die a double suicide and become a ghost to take revenge on those people?"
Liang Yue shook his head with a bitter smile: "After I came back, I investigated the truth of the matter and rushed into Cai'er's foster mother's house with a knife. I killed her whole family and then cut those scoundrels who dared to come and harass Cai'er into pieces. I did all this without keeping it from others, so I was quickly arrested by the authorities and sentenced to immediate execution."
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